


Rose-crowned as of old

by Immortal_With_A_Kiss



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fix-It of Sorts, M/M, Not Canon Compliant - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, References to Oscar Wilde, playing fast and loose with canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2019-12-01
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:41:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21639769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Immortal_With_A_Kiss/pseuds/Immortal_With_A_Kiss
Summary: For Albus Dumbledore, the new school year means finding yet another new DADA teacher to take up the thrice damned post. But with the Ministry putting out that he's a crazed lunatic and the Minister trying to put his secretary in the post, he really only has the option of consulting one of his oldest friends. Only problem, Gellert Grindelwald is supposed to have died 50 years ago.For Harry Potter, the new school year means another year of teen drama and crushes, as well as a Ministry smear campaign and a High Inquisitor that seems dead-set on ousting Snape as the worst member of the Hogwarts staff. Oh well, no one said being Harry Potter was easy.
Relationships: Albus Dumbledore & Harry Potter, Albus Dumbledore/Gellert Grindelwald, Hermione Granger & Harry Potter & Ron Weasley, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Comments: 8
Kudos: 38





	Rose-crowned as of old

_**Nurmengard Castle** _

_**September 23, 1945** _

A lone figure approached the looming black-rock fortress, its towers rising high into the crisp alpine sky. The man observed the castle calmly, his lips almost twisting into a small smile despite himself. It was a baroque structure, but then its master always did have a taste for power and dramaticism. Said master was walking towards him now, alone without even the pretty French lieutenant reports said was perpetually by his side.

“Gellert.” The intruder acknowledged with a small incline of his head.

“Have you broken it?” Was the response, the Austrian’s accent only faintly intelligible.

“No.” Said the auburn haired man, his face grave.

His opposite smiled, a twisted thing as if he had forgotten how to do so genuinely. Probably had. War was a dark business, after all. It darkened all of their days.

“I figured.” He said. “It is an eternal pact, after all. We swore ourselves to each other, Albus. That kind of oath is not made to be broken.”

“I know.” His voice was quiet.

Silence stretched about between them, filling the space between them left by bitter old resentments and unspoken words and time. It was not a comfortable silence, but for a moment no words could be said that would fill it. Nothing could cleanly patch over decades of silence and doubts and regrets. And then the moment broke.

“Do you regret it? Us?” The blond man asked, heterochromatic eyes full of resignation to the answer he clearly didn’t want.

“No.” The other man said, not daring to look at the man who had once been his everything. “The pact would not hold if I didn’t…”

He trailed off upon realizing the implication of his own words. If the pact was contingent on his feelings remaining true, the same would have to be said for his partner. Hesitantly, he met the other man’s eyes. The Austrian was smiling faintly, a ghost of a true smile.

“I don’t regret it either.” He said quietly. “I only regret leaving. Even if your brother had gotten me sent to Azkaban, well it would’ve been for the greater good.”

The Englishman’s eyes widened, easily recognizing the infamous slogan. That it was being used here, what did that mean? But the man continued without leaving a chance for it to be questioned.

“Where did I go wrong, Albus? How did it come to this? Wizard blood has been spilt, children forced to watch their fathers fight until they too were old enough to be taken to the endless bloodshed. And did I stop either of the muggle’s wars? What has any of this been for?” The man took a shuddering breath. “We are still not free. All that’s resulted is death, so many muggles and wizards alike. By my hand, Albus! I can see them, all of them and I can’t even tell if they’re in the past or in the future because both are just the same, drenched in blood. So much senseless blood.”

“Gellert…”

“I haven’t been a revolutionary for decades, Albus. In the end, it seems even I can get swept along by the masses and become nothing but a populist. Merlin, I’m such a hypocrite.” He met the other man’s eyes hesitantly before continuing quietly. “I don’t mean to absolve my wrongdoing, I just need some way…some way to make sense of all this blood.”

The other man waited a few seconds, though he clearly wanted to approach the Austrian who was breaking under the weight of his own sins. “So you want to end this?” He asked finally.

“You must end this, Albus.” The blond met his eyes again. “I cannot escape this on my own.”

“The ministries expect a duel.” The Englishman said.

“Then we’ll give them a duel.” The Austrian answered with no hesitation.

“But the pact…”

“If there’s no intent to harm, it won’t act.” 

The auburn haired man nodded in understanding.

They didn’t need words to start their fake-duel. It started with a few intentionally misaimed explosions. By now, they were sure the ministries of the world were watching, surveillance of the professor only granting them enough time for their talk. From the outside, it looked as if there was malice. But within that swirling circle of pure magic, it was closer to an intimate dance. The pact created an echo of a bond between their magics and that was enough for them to anticipate each other, knowing where to dodge and where to aim as to not aggravate the pact into incident. One little girl had paid the price of their failure once and it was never to happen again. 

The mock-battle waged on for hours, its dancers never tiring. In a way, it was a thrilling exercise to see just how far their magic could be stretched. Something that certainly had never come close to being tested since that summer so many years ago. Time had driven them apart, dashing their idealism on the shore of a cruel reality, and yet there still remained an intrinsic connection. A deep bond that not even the cruelest world could shatter. 

That bond is what caused Albus Dumbledore to forgive Gellert Grindelwald despite his unspeakable crimes. Some might call it folly, some might call it weak sentiment. But he forgave him and so with a pair of spells, Gellert Grindelwald disappeared from the grounds of Nurmengard. And to the world, Gellert Grindelwald was dead.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed this short prologue and I'll try my best to get the first proper chapter out as soon as possible.
> 
> Please comment your thoughts!  
> -Rei


End file.
